Mary Willis

My name is Mary Willis. I hold 2 Associate Degrees from The University of South Carolina, 2 Bachelor's degrees from Limestone University, 3 Masters' Degrees from The University of Alabama and I'm finishing up a 4th Master's degree from Limestone University. My degrees all center around technology, computer science, and health education. Obviously, I love to learn. In every discipline, I see God, Christ, and creation is interwoven into the subject matter. I, like Timothy in the New Testament, had grandmothers who taught me about the Bible and salvation. I was brought up in church and thought I was doing well. I attended church every time the doors were open, studied my Bible and my Sunday School lesson every week. I gave my tithe. I sang in the youth choir and even witnessed to others about salvation through Christ. Sounds like I had it going on, but the truth is I didn't have a personal knowledge of Jesus Christ. In 1972, at the age of 16, I attended a Bible camp where the Holy Spirit convicted me of my sin. He let me know that works weren't enough. At the altar call, I went to the altar and gave my heart to Jesus and my life has never been the same. I have let Him down many times, but not once in all these years has He ever let me down. You can trust Him with your soul, your heart, your life, and your future. I promise you, JESUS NEVER FAILS!

My Life

Favorite Quote

"There are far, far better things ahead than any we leave behind." C.S. Lewis

Friends describe me

An animal loving, joyful, stupid joke teller, caring person.

My hobbies

Writing music, playing the piano, violin, guitar, mandolin, ocarina, singing, writing poetry, designing and sewing my clothes, fishing, college football (Roll Tide), reading and many more.

Fantasy dinner guests

Hannibal Lecter (just kidding) Seriously, I would love to have dinner with Jesus, the woman at the well, Peter, Paul and my maternal grandfather who died when I was two but who prayed for me everyday.

Best advice I ever received

Keep your relationship with Christ right and you will be right with everyone else.

My undergrad alma mater

The University of South Carolina and Limestone University

My worst subject in school

I didn't really have one. I loved them all.

In college I drove

Ford Pinto

If I weren't a professor, I would

I would be a motivational speaker. I love encouraging people.

Favorite books

The Bible, To Kill a Mockingbird, Ben & Me, The Yearling, and anything John Steinbeck wrote.

Favorite movies

To Kill a Mockingbird, Tombstone, Trip to Bountiful, War Room, War Games, The Blind Side, Woodlawn.

Favorite city

Charleston, SC

Favorite coffee

Not much of a coffee drinker. I love frappes.

Nobody knows I

Was once a radio DJ and an undercover reporter about corruption in a public office.

My latest accomplishment

I have been asked, as a former Graduate Student of the Year for the University of Alabama, to make a commercial for them and to sit on their advisory board for online quality. I also started back in the gym and beat my personal best by riding one mile on a bicycle in under 3 minutes. I also am back lifting weights and am getting ripped again.

Current Research

I just finished researching the possible causes of Diffuse Intrinsic Pontine Glioma, Primary CNS Melanoma and Gliomatosis Cerebri. These diseases are very rare brain cancers found in children and are fatal 99% of the time. They usually strike around the age of 5 to 7. There is no treatment protocol at this time.